# US 11,114,323 B2 · Vehicle > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,114,323 B2 - Document ID: US11114323B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/163,616 - Filed: 2018-10-18 - Published: 2019-04-25 - Granted: 2021-09-07 - Earliest claimed: 2017-10-23 - Assignees: Daifuku Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Daifuku Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Daisuke Ogawa; Tsubasa Yajima - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11114323B2 ## CPC - H10P 72/0608: {of substrates stored in a container, a magazine, a carrier, a boat or the like} - B61L 23/00: Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains - B61L 25/00: Recording or indicating positions or identities of vehicles or trains or setting of track apparatus - B65G 43/00: Control devices, e.g. for safety, warning or fault-correcting - G06V 20/56: exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle - H10P 72/0606: {Position monitoring, e.g. misposition detection or presence detection} - H10P 72/3202: {Mechanical details, e.g. rollers or belts} - H10P 72/3208: {Changing the direction of the conveying path} - H10P 72/3214: {by means of a cart or a vehicle} - H10P 72/3216: {using a general scheme of a conveying path within a factory} - H10P 72/3218: {Conveying cassettes, containers or carriers} - H10P 72/3221: {Overhead conveying} - B65G 2203/041: Camera - Y02T 10/72: Electric energy management in electromobility - H10P: GENERIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF DEVICES COVERED BY CLASS H10 - B61L: GUIDING RAILWAY TRAFFIC; ENSURING THE SAFETY OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC (brakes or auxiliary equipment B61H, B61K; point or crossing construction E01B) - B65G: TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS (packaging B65B; handling thin or filamentary materials, e.g. paper sheets or thread, B65H; cranes B66C; portable mobile or lifting or hauling appliances, e.g. hoists, B66D; devices for lifting or lowering goods for loading or unloading purposes, e.g. fork-lift trucks, B66F9/00; emptying bottles, jars, casks, barrels or similar containers, not otherwise provided for, B67C9/00; delivering or transferring liquids B67D; filling or discharging vessels for liquefied, solidified or compressed gases F17C; pipe-line systems for fluids F17D) - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION ## Abstract A vehicle includes one or more travel portions each configured to travel along a rail track, a travel controller configured to perform an image recognition to determine a shape of a portion of the rail track based on an image captured by an imaging device supported by the vehicle and to control the one or more travel portions based on a result of the image recognition, an information obtaining portion configured to obtain position information of each of a plurality of locations that the vehicle travels past as a result of traveling along the rail track, and to obtain the order in which the vehicle travels past such plurality of locations, and memory configured to store information obtained by the information obtaining portion. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A vehicle configured to support an imaging device and to travel along a rail track, the vehicle comprising: one or more travel portions each configured to travel along at least one rail track; a travel controller configured to perform an image recognition to determine a shape of a portion of the at least one rail track along a travel direction of the vehicle based on an image captured by the imaging device and to control the one or more travel portions based on a result of the image recognition; an information obtaining portion configured to obtain position information of each of a plurality of locations that the one or more travel portions travel past as a result of traveling along the at least one rail track, and to obtain information on an order in which the position information of the plurality of locations is obtained; and memory configured to store information obtained by the information obtaining portion, wherein the travel controller is configured to: (a) determine, based on the result of the image recognition, (i) whether a branching portion is present in which a rail track branches off from another rail track, and (ii) a configuration of the branching portion if present; (b) select a travel direction to be taken; and (c) control the one or more travel portions to cause the one or more travel portions to take the selected travel direction. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The vehicle as defined in claim 1, wherein the travel controller is configured to control a travel speed of the one or more travel portions in accordance with a curvature of the at least one rail track based on a result of the image recognition of the shape of a portion of the at least one rail track. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The vehicle as defined in claim 1, wherein the travel controller is configured to control the one or more travel portions such that a rail track that the one or more travel portions has not travelled along is preferentially selected if there is such a rail track that the one or more travel portions has not travelled along that exists among a plurality of possible rail tracks that can be taken at the branching portion. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The vehicle as defined in claim 3, wherein: the information obtaining portion includes a position information reader configured to read position information of a plurality of position displays that are spaced apart from one another along, in a case where the at least one rail track includes a plurality of rail tracks, the plurality of rail tracks, and wherein the information obtaining portion is configured to obtain: (a) position information of each of the plurality of position displays that is read by the position information reader; and (b) connection information about how the plurality of position displays are connected by the plurality of rail tracks. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The vehicle as defined in claim 4, further comprising map memory configured to store therein basic map information which is information about a shape of the at least one rail track and how the plurality of rail tracks are connected to one another, wherein the information obtaining portion is configured to store in the map memory the position information and the connection information that are obtained such that the position information and the connection information that are obtained are associated with the basic map information. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The vehicle as defined in claim 4, wherein each of the one or more travel portions includes one or more guide rollers configured to guide the travel portion in the selected travel direction when traveling through a branching portion, and wherein the travel controller is configured to move the one or more guide rollers to a position corresponding to the selected travel direction for a branching portion. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The vehicle as defined in claim 6, wherein in addition to the position information and the connection information, the information obtaining portion is configured to obtain at least one of: (a) distance information, which indicates a distance between two adjacent detected members; (b) speed information, which indicates a set travel speed for the one or more travel portions which is set for each of a plurality of position displays; and (c) roller information, which indicates the position of the one or more guide rollers of each of the one or more travel portions at the time of traveling past each of a plurality of position displays. ### Claim 8 A vehicle configured to support an imaging device and to travel along a rail track, the vehicle comprising: one or more travel portions each configured to travel along at least one rail track; a travel controller configured to perform an image recognition to determine a shape of a portion of the at least one rail track along a travel direction of the vehicle based on an image captured by the imaging device and to control the one or more travel portions based on a result of the image recognition; an information obtaining portion configured to obtain position information of each of a plurality of locations that the one or more travel portions travel past as a result of traveling along the at least one rail track, and to obtain information on an order in which the position information of the plurality of locations is obtained; memory configured to store information obtained by the information obtaining portion, and map memory configured to store therein basic map information which is information about a shape of the at least one rail track and, in a case where the at least one rail track includes a plurality of rail tracks, how the plurality of rail tracks are connected to one another, wherein the information obtaining portion includes a position information reader configured to read position information of a plurality of position displays that are spaced apart from one another along the plurality of rail tracks, wherein the information obtaining portion is configured to obtain: (a) position information of each of the plurality of position displays that is read by the position information reader; and (b) connection information about how the plurality of position displays are connected by the plurality of rail tracks, and wherein the information obtaining portion is configured to store in the map memory the position information and the connection information that are obtained such that the position information and the connection information that are obtained are associated with the basic map information.